A Guest Post on Orvis News

I wrote an article on Sea-run Brook Trout for the Orvis News Blog - Check it out HERE

Rainy Day Brookies

Yesterday the forecast called for temperatures in the high 40s and rain. Those are far from the most comfortable conditions for fishing, but they were perfect to get the fish active. The influx of warm (relatively speaking) rainwater into the stream warms it faster than the air alone, and the fish let their guard down a little in higher flows.

So, I explored a couple of small streams in Central MA in search of wild trout. The first stream has it's source on the flanks of Mt. Wachusett, so it was, predictably, quite cold. I didn't catch any fish, so I moved on.

I drove to an old standby of mine. This stream is very small, but it's full of brook trout, and it was one of the first wild brook trout streams I explored, so it will always be special to me. Here I found fish.

I stripped a small wooly bugger-ish fly I tied through the first pool and soon felt a strong tug. I pulled in this brookie, which turned out to be the largest of the day.

As I moved downstream I had strikes or hookups in nearly every pool, although many got off due to the difficulty of setting the hook in tight quarters. After a couple of hours the rain picked up and the water started to show a slight stain, so I decided to head home.

A Little Time Away

Those of you who check this blog regularly have probably noticed I haven't posted in a while. Have no fear, this blog is not dead! In the last few months I've been busy with school and job applications, so I haven't had a lot of time to fish or write. Fortunately, I now have a job lined up, so I'll have plenty of time to fish! Given the current warm temperatures, this couldn't have come at a better time.

My days fishing in MA are numbered, though. I'm moving to Madison, WI at the end of June, but I'll try to get a lot of fishing in here during my winter break and the start of Summer. After that, I'll still post (assuming I have time after I become a real adult), but this will be a more Wisconsin-centric blog. I'll still fish New England whenever I have a chance, but it will probably be less often.

On the bright side, I'll be much closer to the West, and Colorado has been calling my name for some time now. I'm also hoping to spend some time exploring the Northwoods streams of Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

More posts with some of my recent outings to come!